No Choice
by TheOracle18
Summary: One-shot from Annabeth's point-of-view. Scene at Mount St. Helens in Battle of the Labyrinth.


_Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson, no copyright infringement intended, the dialogue in this fic is all from The Battle of the Labyrinth._

_A/N: Hey, this is just a short PJ one-shot. It's a scene in the books from Annabeth's point of view, i'm pretty sure you'll know which scene i'm talking about if say it's from BotL chapter 11: I Set Myself On Fire!_

_This is my take on what might have been going through her head, so enjoy!_

_EDIT (4.5.12): A reviewer pointed out to me some mistakes I had made in the setting because of the way I had misinterpreted the scene in the book, I felt this was an important mistake to fix so it could be as accurate as possible. That's all thats changed other than some minor spelling/grammar things. :)_

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><p>I nodded to him, "We have to get out-"<p>

But no sooner had I said that than the doors exploded, with the ear splitting sound of wrenching metal, and young telkhines came pouring out in a flood. I could see them stumbling over one another, looking everywhere, trying to figure out which way to go.

Then suddenly I heard Percy say, "Put your cap back on. Get out!"

I couldn't quite believe he said that! There was no way in Hades I was leaving him, I didn't leave him when we _actually _went to Hades and I had no plans of doing it now, so predictably I responded with, "What? No! I'm not leaving you," I had meant to say it in a calm but firm voice, unfortunately it turned out more like a shriek of panic.

"I've got a plan," he explained, but I knew he was lying. It was _Seaweed Brain_, he _never_ had a plan. "I'll distract them," he went on, "You can use the metal spider - maybe it'll lead you back to Hephaestus. You have to tell him what's going on."

There was no way he could hold off all the monsters on his own. There were too many telkhines, even for him, he'd die if I left him. I couldn't let him die! "But you'll be killed," I cried, trying to make him see sense. But I knew I was fighting a lost battle, he had that look in his eyes. Determined and stubborn to a fault. I wasn't going to change his mind no matter what I said or did. I _knew_ that, but did it stop me from trying? No, it most certainly did not! I can be just as stubborn as he is when I want to be.

But I also saw fear in his eyes. Just a flicker, but I saw it. He wasn't just being delusional and over-confident, he _knew_ he was lying to me. That he probably _wouldn't_ come back. And that almost killed me anyway, he _knew_ there was nothing he could do against them. But he was going to try anyway, so I could have time to get away.

That stupid, stubborn, noble, too-brave-for-his-own-good, Seaweed Brain!

But he was _my_ Seaweed Brain. _My Percy_.

"I'll be fine. Besides we've got no choice." he said, stubborn once again.

Damn, I _hate_ it when he's logical! Trust me it's a rare occurrence, but I just can't find a way to argue with him when it _does_ happen.

He was right, I had no choice but to leave him. And right then I hated him more than I ever had, I could have punched him! And I'm sure the death glare I shot him conveyed my feelings perfectly.

But then I looked into his eyes again, the sea green swirling around like endless whirlpools, pleading with me to listen to him, for once. I felt my anger wane just a little, and before I knew what I was doing, I had flung my arms around him and kissed him.

I know what you're thinking, we're surrounded by monsters and I'm about to leave him to go to his imminent death, so _not_ the time for your first kiss, right. But to be honest - I didn't care.

It was over far before I wanted it to end, mostly because of the aforementioned circumstances. That and my brain finally decided to kick in again. I wasn't sure if I was glad it had happened or completely mortified that I had just kissed Percy. _Percy_. Percy _Jackson_, son of _Poseidon_! Athena was going to kill me, or worse she was going to kill Percy! _Though_, the nasty, pessimistic part of my brain said, _the telkhines might do the job for her._

So I think I'll stick with the former emotion.

To avoid the mortification kicking in, I quickly said, "Be careful, Seaweed Brain," desperately hoping he'd listen to me, and slipped on my invisibility cap.

I looked at him for just a moment, before I ran back into the labyrinth, and all I saw in his face was complete and utter shock. He looked so cute and gobsmacked I almost laughed, but maybe now wasn't the best time for him to be distracted, he needed to concentrate if he wanted a chance of surviving. A small smile started at the corner of his mouth, but then one of the telkhines shouted "There!" and he seemed to shake himself a bit, and he turned towards the monsters, it was like his eyes went flat and all emotion leaked out of them. He was ready. And it was time for me to leave him.

I literally had to force myself to turn around and sprint for the labyrinth tunnel before I could change my mind and run back to him.

I blocked out all noise and just concentrated on running down the labyrinth tunnel, otherwise I know I wouldn't have been able to stop myself from going back and helping him.

Then suddenly… BOOM!

The explosion was huge, I could see storms of fire at the exit of the tunnel though they seemed very far away. Despite the chaos just metres away from me all I heard was a terrible, heart-wrenching scream of "NO!".

I didn't realise it had come from me until my legs gave out and I found myself on the ground. Feeling numb and disbelieving, I whispered "Percy," and I had never sounded more defeated.

No matter what I told myself I had been holding out on the hope that he would have pulled off the impossible, like he had so many times before, escaped the telkhines, and come running after me shouting, "We should probably get out of here, Wise Girl!", completely calm like he always did. But I knew he couldn't have survived that explosion, _unless_…. no! I couldn't give myself false hope again!

Unfortunately, now was not the time for my emotional breakdown, what with being so close to what looked like a volcanic eruption. So I pulled myself together as much as I could and sprinted on through the tunnel, I quickly came to a fork and took out the wriggling little mechanical spider, not even caring when it tried to run up my arm, I wasn't aware of much, other than the unstoppable tears streaming down my face.


End file.
